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Marshall Space Flight Center

Thursday, 01 March 2012

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The Marshall Space Flight Center
(MSFC), located in Huntsville, AL,
became a NASA field center on July
1, 1960. Since then, Marshall has provided
the agency with the mission-critical
design, development, and integration of
launch and space systems required for
space operations, exploration, and scientific
missions. Marshall’s unique interdisciplinary
approach to problem-solving
brings scientific and engineering
expertise together, providing answers
that improve life on Earth, inspire a new
generation, and stimulate innovation for
the future of space exploration.

Marshall’s legacy in rocket science
includes providing the rockets that powered
Americans to the Moon, developing
the space shuttle propulsion system,
and managing the development of
Skylab, Spacelab, space station nodes,
the Hubble Space Telescope, the
Chandra X-ray Obser vatory, and many
scientific instruments. Today, the
Marshall team is leading development of
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), the
next advanced, heavy-lift launch vehicle.

Facilities and Capabilities

Propulsion Systems: Developing and
maturing propulsion technologies for
space transportation and science missions,
MSFC contributes engineering expertise
for all transportation phases and operates
the Propulsion Research Development
Laboratory, a national resource for
researchers from NASA, other government
agencies, and universities.

Materials and Processes: Managing
the National Center for Advanced
Manufacturing — NASA’s principal
resource for aerospace manufacturing
research, development, and innovation
— MSFC defines and develops
state-of-the-art materials, streamlined
processes, and lightweight, highstrength
products to be used in the
harsh space environment.

Mission Operations: Ground systems
work includes telemetry, voice, video,
information management, data reduction,
and payload planning to link scientists
around the world with their
experiments. Marshall is home to
NASA’s Payload Operations Center, the
primary science command for the
International Space Station (ISS), as
well as the Mission Operations Lab -
oratory and the Huntsville Op erations
Support Center.

Space Systems: MSFC has a rich history
of designing, developing, integrating,
testing, and fielding the range of human
and robotic systems. The center defines
and develops science experiments and
life support systems; performs mechanical
design and analysis, electrical design,
and integration for hardware and data
systems; and performs testing and flight
certification for ISS science racks.

Test Facilities: The Marshall campus
includes more than 40 facilities for all
types of rocket and space transportation
technology testing, from small components
to full-up engine hot-fire testing.
The center provides an unsurpassed
capability for testing large rocket structures
and offers one of the few test
stands in the world that can handle large
liquid-fueled rocket engines.

Question of the Week

This week's Question: Last week, Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla, said that the electric car maker would introduce autonomous technology, an autopilot mode, by this summer; the technology will allow drivers to have their vehicles take control...